Lockdown Protocol

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti delivers a high-refresh-rate experience in Lockdown Protocol, a 2024 FPS title. The data shows that this combination is capable of pushing frame rates well beyond standard display refresh rates at most settings, though the Ultra preset creates a significant bottleneck at 4K. Benchmark results indicate a system that is evenly balanced for 1440p gaming, with the CPU and GPU alternating as the limiting factor depending on the resolution and quality settings applied.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core, 28-thread processor built on Intel’s Raptor Lake architecture. It operates at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, which provides substantial headroom for the single-threaded performance that FPS titles often require. The processor’s large 33 MB shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache help reduce latency, which is critical for maintaining consistent frame pacing in a fast-paced game like Lockdown Protocol.

This CPU is not the primary constraint in most measured scenarios. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 303.6 FPS, a figure so high that the GPU is almost certainly the limiting factor even at this modest resolution. The data suggests that the i7-14700KF has enough headroom to feed the RTX 4070 Ti without creating a bottleneck. The processor’s benchmark scores reinforce this: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44557 and a single-core score of 6290 position it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-14700K, posts nearly identical scores with a deltaPct of 0, while the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X is only 0.4% behind in average benchmark score. This level of performance means that even in scenarios where the game engine relies heavily on AI or physics calculations, the 14700KF has ample compute resources.

However, the CPU’s role becomes more apparent when examining the scaling from 1080p to 1440p. At High settings, the frame rate drops from 189.3 FPS at 1080p to 138.9 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of approximately 26%. This drop is larger than what pure GPU-bound scaling would suggest, indicating that the CPU is still contributing to the overall frame time, though it is not the dominant factor. At 4K, the frame rate at High settings falls to 93.2 FPS, and the gap between CPU and GPU performance narrows further, but the processor’s strong single-thread result of 633 in Cinebench R15 single-core ensures it can keep up with the GPU’s output demands.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the other half of this pairing, featuring 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s boost clock of 2610 MHz and its Ada Lovelace architecture with 7680 shading units provide the raw compute power needed for high-resolution rendering. The card’s 40.09 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is substantial, though Lockdown Protocol’s frame rates suggest the game is more dependent on memory bandwidth and texture throughput than raw compute.

The GPU’s influence is most visible at 4K, where the demands on VRAM and memory bandwidth increase sharply. At 4K Ultra, the average frame rate drops to 65.9 FPS, a level that is noticeably lower than the 104.4 FPS achieved at 1440p Ultra. This 37% performance drop from 1440p to 4K is a clear indicator that the RTX 4070 Ti is the limiting component at the highest settings. The GPU’s percentile ranking of 85 versus all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 44900, place it in the upper tier of graphics cards, but its nearest rivals show how competitive this segment is: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile is only 0.6% ahead, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT is 1.6% behind.

At lower settings, the GPU’s role shifts. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 303.6 FPS, which is far beyond what most displays can show, indicating that the GPU is not being fully utilized at this resolution. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings, from 303.6 FPS to 222.5 FPS, still shows a substantial drop, but the absolute frame rates remain high enough that the GPU is not a practical concern. It is only at 4K that the GPU’s 12 GB VRAM capacity and bandwidth become potential constraints, particularly with the Ultra preset’s higher texture and effect demands.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured frame rates across resolutions reveal a clear pattern of component limitation. At Low settings, the progression is 303.6 FPS at 1080p, 222.5 FPS at 1440p, and 146.5 FPS at 4K. The 4K result is 51.8% lower than 1080p, which is a typical GPU-bound scenario where the rendering resolution directly impacts the workload. The consistent drop from 1080p to 1440p (26.7%) and then to 4K (another 34.2%) indicates that the GPU is scaling as expected with pixel count.

At Medium settings, the frame rates are 217.6 FPS at 1080p, 156.5 FPS at 1440p, and 101.5 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 35.1%, which is similar to the Low setting pattern, suggesting the GPU is still the primary constraint. However, the High settings show a slightly different story: 189.3 FPS at 1080p, 138.9 FPS at 1440p, and 93.2 FPS at 4K. The 26.6% drop from 1080p to 1440p is smaller than at Low settings, and the 32.9% drop from 1440p to 4K is also less pronounced, hinting that the CPU is beginning to have a more substantial impact at higher quality presets where the game’s logic and draw calls become more complex.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling: 141 FPS at 1080p, 104.4 FPS at 1440p, and 65.9 FPS at 4K. The 26% drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent with other presets, but the 36.9% drop from 1440p to 4K is the largest of any setting. This indicates that at Ultra, the combination of CPU and GPU load is pushing both components to their limits, with the GPU becoming the decisive factor at 4K. The data suggests that for the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, 1440p with High or Medium settings is the sweet spot, as the system remains above 138 FPS without the steep performance penalty seen at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 182nd out of 1637 tested combos in Lockdown Protocol. This places it in the top 11% of all configurations, which is a strong result for a pairing that is not an absolute flagship setup. The rank of 182 indicates that there are many systems with higher-end GPUs or more powerful CPUs that can achieve higher frame rates, but this combo is firmly in the upper echelon of tested hardware.

The CPU’s performance relative to its rivals helps contextualize this rank. The i7-14700KF has an average benchmark score of 70104, which is nearly identical to the i7-14700K’s 70074 (deltaPct 0) and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X’s 70420 (deltaPct -0.4). This means the CPU is not the differentiator in this rank; rather, the GPU’s position in the market is more relevant. The RTX 4070 Ti’s average score of 44900 is close to the RTX 5090 Mobile’s 45152, which suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor in determining this combo’s rank. The 4K Ultra result of 65.9 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold that many users consider acceptable for smooth gameplay, which likely contributes to the rank being lower than systems with more powerful GPUs.

Despite the mid-pack GPU, the combo’s rank of 182 out of 1637 is still impressive, as it outperforms the vast majority of tested configurations. The high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, particularly the 303.6 FPS at 1080p Low and 222.5 FPS at 1440p Low, show that this system is more than capable of handling competitive or fast-paced play. The rank reflects a system that is well-balanced for high-refresh-rate gaming, with the CPU providing ample headroom and the GPU delivering strong performance at mainstream resolutions.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured frame rates, the Medium preset at 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At this setting, the system achieves 156.5 FPS, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate that many gaming monitors support, and the 4K Medium result of 101.5 FPS is also playable, though not ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The Medium preset provides a significant visual upgrade over Low settings while maintaining frame rates that are still competitive.

For users with 1080p displays, the High preset is the recommended choice, delivering 189.3 FPS. This is a substantial improvement over the Medium preset’s 217.6 FPS in terms of visual fidelity, with a frame rate drop of only 13% that is unlikely to be noticeable on most monitors. At 1440p, the High preset’s 138.9 FPS is still above 120 FPS, making it a viable option for those who prioritize image quality over maximum frame rates. The Ultra preset, however, is not recommended for any resolution, as it drops to 104.4 FPS at 1440p and 65.9 FPS at 4K, and the performance penalty is steep without a correspondingly large visual gain.

At 4K, the Low preset’s 146.5 FPS is the only setting that provides a truly smooth experience, but the visual quality is heavily compromised. The Medium preset at 4K, with 101.5 FPS, is the best compromise for 4K users, as it offers a reasonable frame rate while retaining more detail. The data suggests that this system is best suited for 1440p gaming, where the Medium and High presets both deliver frame rates that exceed 138 FPS, allowing the user to enjoy high refresh rates without sacrificing too much visual quality.